The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga

The focus of the Hatha Yoga schools was to build a strong, healthy body that would allow the yogi to meditate for many hours each day.

one of the best ways to prepare you for a specific yoga pose is to do that specific pose! one way to best prepare ourselves to sit, is to sit.

Said another way, in Yin Yoga, the key is the stress not the stretch.

Many health care professionals shudder at the thought of exercising joints; they have the mistaken view that all exercise is yang exercise. Despite this concern it is possible to exercise ligaments, bones, and joints in a yin way. In fact, it is necessary.

All forms of exercise share two features in common:
first we must stress the tissues,
then we must let the tissues rest.

Yang yoga is great at developing the yang attribute of strength within our muscles but, surprisingly perhaps, it is the yin part of our practice, the holding of the pose, that provides length.

Generally, one of the muscles’ jobs is to protect the joint; if there is too much stress on the joint, the muscle will tear first, then the ligaments, and then finally the joint itself may become damaged. In this regard, yang yoga is designed to not stress the joint. This is why there is so much care taken to align the body and engage the muscles correctly before coming into asanas in the yang practice. However, Yin Yoga is specifically designed to exercise the ligaments and to regain space and strength in the joints.

Within our bodies, if we use the context of position or density, the yang tissues can be seen as our muscles, blood, and skin compared to the yin tissues of ligaments, bones, and joints. The contexts of flexibility or heat could also be used: muscles are elastic, but bones are plasticMuscles love to get warm, while ligaments generally remain cool.

These imbalances are often referred to as an excess or a deficiency. We can have an excess or a deficiency of either yin or yang. The cure is to apply the opposite energy to control the imbalance.

Please Note! Yin Yoga as described here is not restorative yoga. If the tissues you are targeting for exercise are damaged in some way, please give yourself a chance to heal before resuming your regular practice.